Three high-ranking Cape Town officials face suspension for alleged corruption

Not all is well in the house of the DA...

Three high-ranking Cape Town officials in the DA-run Municipality are facing suspension for corrupt activity, in a motion brought forward last week.

News 24 report that City Manager Achmat Ebrahim, Transport Development Authority Commissioner Melissa Whitehead and Mayor Patricia de Lille’s executive director, Craig Kesson, must make their individual submissions by next week Tuesday.

Ian Neilson is the Cape Town deputy mayor. He’s the man who tabled the motion, and has asked the three parties involved to provide reasons ‘why they should not be placed on precautionary suspension’.

What did the Cape Town officials do?

The city’s Audit and Performance Audit Committee have been asked to investigate further. Melissa Whitehead is at the forefront of the allegations. The Transport official is set to answer for the following indiscretions:

Employing friends in senior positions

Making an irregular benefit from the Chinese electric bus tender

Favouring a particular bid in the city’s Foreshore project, when needing to remain neutral.

Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille is also implicated in the motion. City Manager Achmat Ebrahim is alleged to have stopped a forensic investigation into Whitehead, under instruction of de Lille.

All is not well in the house of DA

The Mayor is already under the cosh for allegations regarding security upgrades to her home. In fact, the Pinelands property is said to have had R140,000 worth of work done to it… With an invoice being sent to the City of Cape Town, meaning it’s tax-payer costed.

This lead to the Democratic Alliance releasing a public statement. They announced Cape Town Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille and Councillor JP Smith, who publicly fell-out over the upgrades, would be placed on temporary special leave from DA activities.

The DA are yet to rule on whether this was misconduct by de Lille. It isn’t thought that she will be separately investigated over this most recent scandal, though.